


The Picture

by etoile_etiolee



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Art, Big Brother Sam, Curses, De-Aged Dean, Ficlet, Gen, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-06
Updated: 2015-09-06
Packaged: 2018-04-19 10:58:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4743767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etoile_etiolee/pseuds/etoile_etiolee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean finds a toy box in the bunker...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Picture

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to disneymagics for the beta work on the ficlet.
> 
> Art done with pencil and digital coloring. 
> 
> Don't own, don't make profits.

It’s a cursed toy box, of all things. As soon as Dean finishes cranking the handle, the top pops up to reveal a god damn clown. His brother seems to shrink. If seeing him as a fourteen year old was unsettling, facing a little boy who can’t be more than six, is another game entirely.

Luckily, they’re in the Bunker and soon enough, through his mad research skills, Sam discovers that the curse only lasts twenty-four hours, more or less, without any lasting effects. Just long enough to teach Dean not to put his paws on everything without any caution whatsoever.

Six year old Dean doesn’t care. It’s a strange curse. The little boy runs excitedly everywhere. He knows perfectly well who Sam is, who he is, but doesn’t seem to recall he’s usually way older. He’s all smiles and dimples, playful, parading around in his now too large t-shirt. The pants have simply slipped down, leaving him with socks that now go all the way up to his knees.

…And well, Dean’s enthusiasm is contagious. After a while, Sam stops asking him questions about how he feels and whether he remembers what they did last week and just goes with the flow. They play hide and seek for a while, watch a movie –G.I. Joe because Dean wanted something with lots of explosions - and eat popcorn and candy bars for dinner. Sam is actually having fun, and when the night comes and he knows his tiny brother will fall asleep soon, he gets the idea of taking a picture. If nothing else, it'll make great blackmail material. He uses an old-fashioned camera that works with film and asks Dean to stand in front of him. Dean obeys quickly, like taking a picture is the most exciting adventure ever. At the last second, he grabs Sam’s hand, resting on his shoulder, and the flow of emotions that runs through Sam makes his eyes swell with melancholy tears.

Dean wakes up the next morning, his thirty-seven year old self, grumpy and with no memory whatsoever of what happened, lifting a disbelieving eyebrow when Sam explains it to him.  
It’s their life, as crazy as it may seem.

Sam finds the time to take the film to a photo store one month later. When he sees the result, Dean’s smile, confident and sweet, his big green eyes shining with joy, he feels the same rush of emotions coursing through him.

He doesn’t use it as blackmail –he doesn’t even show it to Dean. His brother would be capable of ripping it in two in embarrassment. Sam keeps it hidden, and once in a while, when things are rough between them, he takes a look at the picture and smiles.

Fin

About this piece: As always, pencil sketch, digital coloring. There are some problems with this piece, even though I like the feel of it and how happy both the guys look. Coloring with a simple program like paint.net and using my mouse is really not optimal, if I want to go on and color my stuff, I'll need to learn the basics of photoshop and maybe buy a drawing tablet. In the meantime, here's the original pencil sketch. I always prefer simple (although "simple" is really not the right word for the amazing artists out there working with pencils) sketches to the colored version, but in the same time, there is a feeling of something unfinished, because a sketch has to have shadows and stuff and it's still complicated for me. 

  


Anyway. Have a nice sunday everyone!


End file.
